Naruko Uzumaki and the Rise of the Uzumaki Roku
by Kieran-Drew-Shane
Summary: The life changing story of a young orphan who wants to be number one ninja. So inspiring and heartfelt. Right... Watch Naruko Uzumaki as she follows her Way of the Ninja: kicking ass and taking names. Naruko x Sasuke x Kiba x Gaara x Shikamaru x Neji mini harem-Clan Restoration Act and a "Kyuubi issue"...
1. Prologue

**Yo, yo. This is Kieran, premiering the prologue of Naruko Uzumaki: Ninja In Training! Now, I don't update often because I think a lot about what I write but I can never put it down on paper.**

**?: Yeah, well you need to! People want to know what's going on with me!**

**K: W-wha? Naruko? Is that you?**

**N: Hell yeah, it's me! Your readers want to know what's it's like to be the best ninja in all of Konoha!**

**K: Actually, in this part of the story, you're not eveninthe Academy yet...**

**N: [shakes her head, waving her hand around] Nothing but a simple obstacle...**

**K: Well then, if you want to be the best, how about saying the best disclaimers?**

**N: [shrugs} Fair enough.**

**Disclaimers: LISTEN UP, EVERYONE! KIERAN, DOES NOT GET PAID FROM WRITING THIS STORY AND DOESN'T OWN NARUTO, NOR WILL SHE EVER! SHE'S A PERVY-MINDED TEENAGER WHO READS FANFICTION AND HAS NO SOCIAL LIFE.**

**K: [-_-] ...Run, Uzumaki. Ninja know how to be discreet and stay hidden.**

**N: Hehe... Sorry..? [Naruko turns and runs at full speed]**

* * *

Age Seven

As a young child, about seven years old, shot out of the store with their arms stuffed with loaves of bread, two full grown me struggled to chase after the culprit. The child's big shirt flowed behind her almost as if it was a cape of some sort. The baggy shorts the thief was wearing needed to be secured around her waist with a belt. Her huge clothes didn't seem to slow her down in the least. Her bare feet were layered over with dirt and light scratches. She was so used to it walking around over rocks and sharp objects that it didn't even faze her anymore.

"Thief!" one said. The speaker happened to be the owner of the store, trying to keep up with the blond haired child. The shopkeeper noticed that the kid ran so fast that their hair almost resembled a lightning bolt. The other man, who was the clerk on shift when the kid walked in, thought the child lookedinnocent enough… Thick blond hair, electric blue eyes… Pouting lip… The seven year old was the poster child for innocence.

The store's clerk stopped and stared as the blond lightning bolt jumped over a trash can, with total ease, which a cat had knocked over. He was practically paralyzed when his boss kept running and tripped over the same trash can, attempting the same thing. The clerk tried to bite back the laugh that wanted to erupt from his lips, but the urge quickly dissipated, when his boss yelled for him to help him up.

The young thief turned around, hearing the crash and burst out laughing at the old man struggling to stand up. Electric blues widened in fright when the shopkeeper and clerk glared at the child. The youth spun around instantly and shot off as if there were rockets implanted in their feet. The seven year old searched for a hiding space while running and quickly turned into an abandoned alley. The two angry men followed the little brat into the alley and searched furiously; looking behind and inside dumpsters and trash cans, even under a moldy box in the corner. The two huffed angrily and could have sworn that the little thief ran here… They turned and left grumbling.

While everything in the alley was moved and checked, neither of them bothered to check insidethe moldy box. The blond sneak peeked from under the box to see if the angry adults had left. Gathering that this was true, little Naruto Uzumaki − with golden, lightning blond shaggy hair, electric chakra blue eyes, three perfectly straight scratches on each cheek and an ancient nine tailed demon kitsune named Kyuubi sealed inside her − ate her bread with a self-satisfied grin on her face…

• • • • • •

While on her third loaf of bread, a tall shadow towered over the blond kit. Naruto looked up at the tall figure in fright.

"W-who are y-you? W-what do you w-w-want?" her voice shook. The body vibrated with soft laughter and spoke softly as well. "I am of no danger to you, little kit… I've been looking for you for quite a while…" She still wasn't convinced and did a slight crab-walk to back away from the man, only to hit the wall that ends the alley. Naruto stood and squared up to the adult, her tiny hands in fists. "You're lying!" her voice cracked. "G-get away! I'll f-fight you if I-I h-have t-to…"

The towering man laughed a little louder at the child. He leaned down to pick up the small seven years old, laughing louder as Naruto started to hitting and kicking his chest. He noticed that she should not be this tiny, let alone this weak. At the same time he was thinking this, Naruto started to shout for him to put her down or else. He ignored her and snorted to himself, thinking how much she was like her mother. He walked out of the alley, the sun shining on his face so you could fully see his features; he was a tall man with waist-length, spiky white hair that was tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face. He also had red lines that ran down from his eyes and wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for 'Oil', which denotes his affiliation with Mount Myoboku. He also had a noticeable wart on the right side of his nose. He was wearing a short green shirt kimono and matching pants; under which he wore mesh armor that showed out of the sleeves and legs of his outfit. His outfit was completed with hand guards, a simple black belt, traditional geta, a red cloak with two simple yellow circles and a scroll on his back.

Many people could easily tell who he was just by his head band or hair. So when the people of the Village Hidden in the Leaves saw that Jiraiya was carrying the little girl they had rightfully dubbed "the Lightning Sneak", they cheered him on. Mistakenly thinking that he had reprimanded her for stealing. What the Great Toad Sage was really doing was taking his Goddaughter to her new home.

• • • • • •

Age Nine

"Do it again! You almost had it last time!"

Naruko rolled her eyes at her Godfather and sighed, closing her eyes. After Jiraiya rescued her from her horrible, poverty-stricken and abusive life on the streets, he trained her to the max. Also her appearance had changed significantly; her outfit consisted of an orange tracksuit jacket with black on the upper shoulders area as well as around the waist, a white swirl with a tassel on the left side, a red swirl on the back, a large white collar, orange pants with black bands going down either sides of the legs and black sandals. Her hair grew out from the spiky hair she once had that made her look like a boy, to long shiny locks that she styled into two pigtails. She combed her bangs to each side of her face, making sure to show off the whisker marks on her cheeks, her favorite features.

The nine year old clasped her hands together and her joined fingers started to move in a complex order. First, her index and middle fingers pointed upwards towards the ceiling, sort of like a make-shift gun. Naruko's index fingers go back down in their earlier joined place with her ring fingers do the opposite. Finally, her middle and ring fingers drop to go back in place and her pinky fingers and thumbs shoot out. This continued until Naruko's eyes opened in a flash.

"Uzumaki Justu: Beast Girl Kitsune Transforming Justu!" Naruko's eyes flashed a dark red shade. A deep growl shook from the nine year old's chest as she dropped to the floor on her hands and knees. Naruko arched her back, her teeth sharpening viciously, especially her veneers. Her nails grew and carved themselves into claws. A strange shade of amber, mixed with yellow, started to grow from everywhere on her body at a rapid pace besides from her mop of blond hair. Her ears actually disappeared from the sides of her head to the top resembling fox ears. A thin layer of fur covered them, the tips turning blond, matching her hair. A thick tail grew out from her backside, standing proudly behind her, with a blond tip just like her hair and ears. The whiskers on Naruko's cheeks thickened to three bold lines.

The Kitsune transformation finishes with a dull red flame enveloping her body. Jiraiya's eyes widened at the flame, realizing that it's the Kyuubi's chakra flowing around her. Naruko rubs her jaw, wincing from the feeling of her newly grown teeth.

"D-did I do…" Her eyes drift down to her right arm all the way to her clawed tips. "I-I did it? I'm a k-kitsune! I did it!" The newly transformed kitsune jumped, not knowing that everything about her had heightened. Strength, speed, hearing, grace, stamina, everything. So because of this, the nine years old hit the top of her head on the ceiling. "OUCH! How the hell did I do that?"

Jiraiya snickered at her clumsiness. "You're strength is more powerful now. Just imagine how you'll be when you train even more. I'm proud of you, kit." Naruko rubbed the top of her head, giving her Godfather a sheepish grin and using her other hand to give him a thumbs up. "Thanks, Kyoufu! I'll be the strongest there is, dattebane!"

Jiraiya brought Naruko into his chest, making her think her was giving her a hug, when instead he surprised her with a noogie. He made sure to mess up her hair badly, knowing she's really sensitive about her hair, even though she doesn't show it. "Hey, hey, hey! Quit it! Cut it out, Kyoufu!" Naruko yelled, trying to wiggle from his arms, pushing at his chest, hoping that she didn't destroy her hair even more. Jiraiya opened his arms at the last moment, chuckling when Naruko fell to the floor, rolling back and lands upside down with her legs on the wall and her head on the floor.

The Toad Sage laughed louder at her position while at the same time, Naruko glared up at him. "Why'd you do that, Pervy Sage?" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at her as her covered his mouth with his first, acting as if he had a cough. He then decided to change the subject to keep himself from laughing again. "So, how about we get some ramen as a job well done for finally completing your first custon justu?"

Naruko's eyes widened so much that Jiraiya could almost see the bowls of ramen in her eyes. "What are we waiting for, Kyoufu? LET'S GO!" The hyper blond grabbed her Godfather's hand and tugged him with her as she ran to Ichiraku's.


	2. Chapter 1

Naruko grinned to herself as she spray painted the wall in the alley between the meat market and an abandoned building. She didn't intend to vandalize anything. But Jiraiya was on a "special S-ranked mission" and she was bored. Her pervy Godfather had been working her to the bone to sharpen her Taijustu skills for the past month.

She loved working on her ninja skills but now twelve year old wanted to have some fun and relax. Naruko put down the black spray paint and picked up the can with the yellow cap on it. After she finished filling in the blot, she picked up a can of red paint, outlining it as if it was surrounded by the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Naruko backed away from the wall, admiring her work. "Perfect. A work of art…"

She tilted her head to the side, her long pony tails moving with her. Anybody could tell that Naruko was growing into a teenager. Her shoulder length hair was now down to her waist and her eyes were still the same shade of chakra blue. She was taller, which she was really happy about. She had a slim, athletic body, also. It was evident that Naruko Uzumaki was taking care of herself. Every teenage boy knew it, whether they hated her or not.

What was really noticed by boys was her chest. Don't get her wrong, she liked that she had them… Just not at twelve. To Naruko's and even more so, Jiraiya's despair, she developed at and early age: eleven. And they grew fast after one year. As soon as she noticed them, Jiraiya put her in every article of baggy clothing he could find. While Naruko was grateful for him being so protective, she didn't want to look like a guy.

Naruko's eyes glared down at her chest. Well, it was kind of a glare but her eyes showed some happiness. Every time she walked some place, all the boys looked at her with desire. They were the perfect size too. Not too small, not too huge.

The irritated glare was because she had developed so quickly, older men thought they could take advantage of her or treat her like she was some blond bimbo. Naruko hated being underestimated and people thinking that she was some priss who couldn't fight without breaking a nail.

Focusing back on her work of art, Naruko tapped her foot, trying to think of something else to add. "Something's missing… Oh!" Naruko picked up the black paint and began painting the kanji for 'Kitsune' on the wall. She backed away and stared at the graffiti. "Perfect! Now it's really complete!"

The twelve year old's happiness was short lived when she sensed someone was behind her. She turned around and looked up at the significantly taller man smirking down at her. The man wore a green long sleeved shirt with a black vest hanging open, black pants and green sandals. His hair was blond and shaggy, it was almost a tannish color.

Naruko instantly determined that the guy was a grade A creep by the way her was staring at her. Like she was a piece of meat. And that pissed her off. What made it even worse was that he was wearing a Konoha forehead protector. Naruko narrowed her eyes and bared her slightly sharpened teeth. The older ninja's ego deflated a little when Naruko's eyes flashed red.

"What the fuck do you want? Get out of here," she snarled.

The ninja's smirk grew when he realized who, or what in his case, she was.

The Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki… This just got better and better. He could have his way with her and get rid of her all in one go. He could be a hero to everyone.

"Who do you think you're talking to like that, little girl? You really need to respect your elders," the Leaf shinobi growled. He reached out to grab her arm but Naruko back away at the last second, snarling loudly. Her body shifted into a defensive position, Naruko's teeth even sharper than before. Naruko's chakra blue eyes melted into a purplish red. With her heightened sense of smell, she found out that the patrol ninja was piss drunk. Naruko practically recoiled at the pungent smell of alcohol.

"Hasn't your mother ever told you to respect a lady?" she growled. Naruko didn't let up out of her position for a second. The patrol ninja came back with a retort that made her snap.

"Hasn't your mother ever taught you how to act like one?" Naruko's eyes flashed a vicious blood red. That was one of the few things that Naruko kept to her heart and you did not talk ill of. She knew who her parents were but she didn't _know_ them.

_Naruko wanted to read so badly that snuck into the library a few years back. The librarians didn't want a demon scaring the people away, they told her. So she dug a hole in an old, abandoned part of the building where she knew no one went to. Naruko always made sure the library was closed before she snuck in. _

_At any rate, when Naruko was nine, she found a book about some of the best ninja of Konoha. To her surprise, she found a picture of a man who looked just like her. Minato Namikaze… Same blond hair, same shade of shockingly blue eyes… At first Naruko just wrote it off as a coincidence. _

_She kept reading the passage until she read a name that almost made her punch a wall in frustration. Kushina Uzumaki… She was a member of the Uzumaki clan! Naruko thought. She put two and two together and quickly learned that her mother was the best kunochi while her father the best shinobi. Apparently, her parents were so great that they earned the names, "Red Hot-Blooded Habanero" and "Konoha's Yellow Flash" and became Hokage. _

_She read that Kushina wanted to become Hokage as well, but Minato beat her to it. Naruko finished reading and sat there for hours thinking about what life would have been like if her parents were alive until the early hours of the next day._

_Still lost in her thoughts, Naruko's mind drifted to the conversation she had with, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage. He could barely keep up with her numerous questions. _

"_Naruko… Naruko, calm down… I'll answer all of your questions." And that's what she did. For the next two hours, Naruko asked whatever question that popped into her head. _

"_Jiji, why didn't you tell me who my parents were?" Naruko's grandfather, for all intents and purposes, sighed. "You were supposed to have your father's last name. But because of his enemies in Iwa, I was afraid they would come after you for compensation for your father._

_Not only that, but your mother… she was the Jinchūriki of the Kyubbi before you. Your parents and I didn't want to tell you this until you strong enough to fend for yourself. But I suppose now is a better time than any other…"_

Naruko shook her head rapidly to escape from her memories. She sighed inwardly at herself for being so distracted and glared at the irritating man in front of her.

"My mother… is dead. But seeing as you're one of the close-minded assholes that know about my 'condition', you already knew that. For even _mentioning _my mother, you have the honor of getting your ass kicked by a twelve year old girl."

The guard ninja snorted loudly, foolishly underestimating his opponent, something no ninja should ever do. "You're nothing with a bottle-headed blond with a big mouth. What could you do to a powerful shinobi like me?" he said cockily.

Now it was Naruko's turn to snort. Powerful? Bottle-headed? The patrol nin decided to be ignorantly bold and reach for chest. "You may be a brat, but you might be good for something…" He never even got to finish his sentence when she grabbed onto his hand, her blonde bangs shadowing all her features. Naruko lifted her head and showed off her flaming red eyes. The man trembled as Naruko forced him to his knees. Shit, what had he gotten himself into?

"Keep your _filthy_ hands off of me!"

Naruko's free hand cocked back and snapped forward, connecting with his face. The powerful punch sending him face first into a pile of trash on the alley wall opposite of her. The smell of rotten meat filled the air and Naruko covered her nose. Sometimes she hated her heightened senses.

"Shit! This fuckin' reeks! You stupid bi−" Before he could even finish the word, Naruko sent a kick to his stomach. A stream of blood flew from his lips as he crashed into the foul smelling trash again. Naruko smirked, walking towards the man, squatting a couple of inches away. Her hand grasped his dirty blond hair and yanked his head up. The man wasn't too bad…

Actually, his face was perfectly − "Ahah!" Time froze. A bit of blood had come up from the man's cough, landing directly on Naruko's face. Her once dull red eyes flashed purple and then red as the flames of Hell. An emotionless giggle left Naruko's lips before she let out a growl and head-butted the man. A loud scream was heard throughout the village followed by sudden silence.

Naruko held onto the limp body for a second, scowling as she waited for the man to regain consciousness. After two minutes, she simply gave up; tossing the body aside and for the first time noticing one of his ribs were protruding from the stomach of the man. She also noticed his head was bleeding severely and his head caved in a bit.

"_**Exciting, isn't it? The bloodlust?" **_Naruko shook her head quickly, replying back in her head. _"Shut the fuck up…" _She looked down at the disgusting piece of shit on the ground. At least he was still brea−

"B-bitch!" Naruko froze. Did she hear correctly? Of course! Her hearing was more superior than the Inuzuka clan! This _terrible_ excuse of a patrol chūnin had dared call _her _a _bitch?_

A dark smirk overcame Naruko's lips, letting the demon sealed inside her take over slightly. "_This is going to be so fun…" _Naruko made her way to the ninja, glaring down at the idiotic man. _At least had enough sense to tremble now._ Naruko reeled her fist back before punching him with a chakra coated fist to his stomach. She didn't care in the least about his fucked up rib. All that mattered was this motherfucker d−

"Naruko, what are you doing?" Naruko turned her head towards the voice, grinning sheepishly. "K-Kashi-niisan! How are you doing this afternoon? Hehe…" Naruko felt the disappointed look on her adopted brother's face as she looked down at the ground.

"Naru… what did he do to be on the other side your fist?" Kakashi asked calmly. He already knew what for and was already angry, but he wanted to hear it from her.

"I don't wanna tell you… Your voice is all calm and stuff… It's eerie, 'Kashi."

Kakashi frowned slightly behind the mask covering the bottom half of his face. Eerie? He could admit he was quite intimidating by his calm demeanor but eerie? Kakashi shook his head slightly to escape his thoughts. "Just tell me, Naruko. I won't be angry."

Naruko gave an unladylike snort. "Yeah, you will. But since he's half dead anyway, fine. He… he, uh…," She sighed softly, then took a deep breath, "He cornered me back here and thought he could have his way with me." She smirked slightly and glared down at the unconscious man.

"Piece of shit didn't know who the fuck he was dealing with. But I guess you underestimate everyone when you're lit as fuck. I can smell the sake all over him, 'Kashi."

Kakashi was seething. Though he mad, Kakashi made sure not to show it. He was known for his calm demeanor in all situations and he wasn't going to break it now. Naruko would give him Hell if he did. Kakashi's lone, uncovered eye drifted to the sorry excuse for a man. He walked over to the body, his masked nose scrunched up at the scent of the trash on such a hot, cloudless day like this and the white haired scarecrow hefted the drunken chūnin over his shoulder and turned to look at Naruko.

"Come on, let's go take this trash to the Hokage. I'm sure he would love to hear about how his granddaughter took out a chūnin single-handedly."

He gave her his signature single eye-smile, though Naruko could easily see his masked mouth form into an actual smile.

Naruko grinned up at him. "Technically, he was drunk, 'Kashi. I would have never been able to take him out if he wasn't."

Kakashi snorted, "Drunk or not, it's still impressive." Kakashi wished he could have watched his little sister but at the same time he was glad he didn't. He would have killed the now half-dead man on his shoulder. Beside, he could always get the details from the ANBU he knew were watching Naruko.

Naruko rolled her eyes but followed Kakashi with her hands behind her head, her eyes closed to try and ignore all of the hateful glares she knew she was getting. Naruko could practically _feel _them piercing her skin and if looks could kill, she would have been dead years ago. Naruko opened her eyes after ten minutes of walking to see them passing the Uchiha compound.

She saw the last clan member, Sasuke, walk out of the tall wooden gates with his typical scowl. His eyes met hers as he stood there. Naruko made a quick decision to fuck with him.

She smirked at Sasuke and it widened when his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Then, she winked at him.

Sasuke's eyes widened to the size of saucers and his cheeks flamed up to the color of a tomato. Naruko snickered quietly to herself and walked in front of Kakashi. Sasuke couldn't say or do anything but stare at the same spot Naruko stood. His cheeks warmed again as he replayed the last thirty seconds in his head.

Only two words escaped Sasuke's lips as he walked the streets to the market, "She's beautiful…"

Naruko fidgeted in her seat in front of the Third Hokage, her grandfather for all intents and purposes. Hiruzen Sarutobi, father to jōnin, Asuma and grandfather to Konohamaru and Naruko, sat back in his seat, shocked. "So you mean to tell me that your sister took out a drunken chūnin that came onto her?"

Kakashi nodded silently, too upset to talk and glared at the unconscious man with his uncovered eye. His glare was so hard; Naruko thought his Sharingan eye would burn through his headband. Hiruzen coughed into his fist in an attempt to deter Kakashi from furthering his killing intent to past his office.

The secretary outside of the Hokage's office shivered slightly in fear at the sudden wave of KI casting over her. She briefly wondered if it had anything to do with the knocked out ninja and the Uzumaki girl.

"I−I'm sorry, Jiji… Really…," Naruko stuttered.

The aged ninja shook his head, sighing. Naruko was worried that he was upset with her but for the first time since she was able to talk, she was glad to be wrong. "You're not in trouble, Naruko," he said softly. "I am just glad you're not hurt…" Hiruzen shifted his eyes to the unconscious chūnin, KI leaking out. "Or worse."

As if he had felt the searing glare, the chūnin groaned and rubbed the back of his head.

"Wh-what…?" He opened his eyes and they instantly locked with Naruko's. He never thought to check his surroundings because all he could see was two Narukos wearing shit eating grins. He narrowed his eyes and stood, slightly off balance, wondering why he was seeing double. Naruko's grin widened as she remembers punching him in the side of his head to throw his equilibrium and sight off. He reached into his kunai pouch and started running towards the two blondes, only to be stopped by Kakashi.

"You take one more step towards her and I swear on _your_ life, you will regret it." The chūnin flinched back at the scarecrow's cold voice and dropped the kunai he was holding. He didn't understand it. Why was he defending her? Kakashi Hatake was one of the strongest ninja the village had. That demon killed the Yondaime Hokage, his sensei! His eyes darted around the room, anywhere to avoid looking at Kakashi. His eyes caught the Sandaime, who was glaring at him harshly and his eyes sped away quickly.

He just didn't get it. She was a demon! She would bring nothing but destruction!

"Why are you defending her? She killed the Fourth! Your sensei! Our families are gone because of her! She's a fucking demon bi−"

In the next two seconds, all you could see was a grey blur tackling him to the wall.

"Finish that and it'll be the last word you ever say." That was the first time Naruko ever saw Kakashi lose his cool. Her big brother just had this cool demeanor that made him intimidating and awesome at the same time. Now, seeing him this cold and angry… Naruko's not going to lie, it scared her but it made her happy also. Because he would protect her…

"'Kashi… Kakashi!" Naruko glared at the man being held against the wall by his neck. "Put him down… He's not worth. Besides, he won't be the only one and you can't protect me from everything."

Naruko didn't need to elaborate to anyone what she meant. Kakashi's uncover right eye narrowed at his sister's double meaning and nodded. He always wondered how she could be so forgiving… He's known and looked after her since he was an ANBU and her, a baby. As soon as he introduced himself after getting the okay from the Sandaime, Naruko told him he was her big brother.

Kakashi tightened his grip around the throat of his sister's threat, the released him, letting the chūnin fall to the floor. Naruko rolled her eyes at Kakashi's stiffness.

Kakashi glared at the man on the floor, who in retaliation tried to glare also, but instead gave a look of fear at the joūnin. "What are we going to do with him?" His eyes never left the floor.

Hiruzen sighed at took off his Kage's hat as a devious smirk crossed his lips. "Well, the best thing to do now is to send him to Anko and Ibiki… See how they would take to someone mess with their sister." The chūnin gulped at the famous interrogators' names.

Naruko snickered at his nervousness. She thought those two were awesome. They always had some new way of teaching her how to use a weapon or jutsu. With the Sandaime's permission, Anko and Ibiki taught her the Shadow Clone jutsu because of her unusually high chakra level, which made her normal clones unstable. Naruko quickly learned that it was because of the Kyubbi.

If Jiraiya hadn't come along when he did, she doesn't know what would have happened. Naruko had a family now… A grandfather, a father, a sister, an uncle and two… well, now one older brother… She hoped wherever he was, he better be okay.

A very good sum of miles away from Konohagakure, a man who had to be around nineteen to twenty years of age, with long black hair, the back portion in a ponytail and crimson red eyes, sneezed. He arched his left brow at the sudden sneeze. _'Naruko must be thinking or talking about me. I hope she's alright…'_

Naruko shook her head to clear her head and watched as two ANBU appeared from the shadows to take the guard chūnin away. Naruko sighed and looked at the bird and boar masked ANBU holding his arms. "Bird, Boar, tell Ko-chan and Ibiki-kun to at least _try_ not to kill him, please?" The ANBU nodded and replied with a "Of course, Naruko-chann" and shunshined away, leaving five leaves behind.

Naruko kicked her feet while staring out the window in front of her and saw the rooftop of the Academy. The elder Sarutobi noticed this and smiled softly. "That's what I meant to tell you. I enrolled you in the Academy. Since you already have extensive training from Jiraiya-kun to be at least mid-chūnin, I made sure to put you in a class that graduates in a month. You start next Monday."

Naruko jumped out of her chair. "R-really? You're the best, Hokage-jiji! I gotta tell Jiraiya! Later!" By the time anyone could tell her anything else, Naruko was gone.

Kakashi laughed softly at his sister and turned to the Hokage. "I'll make sure she doesn't get too excited, Hokage-sama." Hiruzen chuckled and shook his head. "She's perfectly fine. Besides, the village is too quiet today anyway."

Kakaski nodded before bowing slightly and shunshined out of his office, leaving a trail of leaves behind. The Third Hokage turned in his chair and looked out the window to see a blonde blur running through the marketplace.

"You hear that Konoha? I'm gonna be a ninja! One step closer to being Hokage!"

Hiruzen laughed at her excitement, but his smile soon shifted into a frown when he heard the shouts of the villagers. How could they crush a child's dream like that? She's done nothing to these ungrateful people but protect them from the Kyubbi! If she really wanted to, Naruko could have destroyed the entire place a long time ago. She should be recognized as a hero, not a danger. The Hokage heard about the other Jinchūriki being ridiculed but didn't think they were treated like this…

The blonde teen dragged Kakashi to every clothing store and equipment store on the way home. Kakashi briefly wondered out loud why Naruko had to be one of the girls who could never make up their minds when they're buying something. He had a serious migraine the next morning.

"Alright, brat. No pranks, no jokes and no swearing," Jiraiya said sternly. Naruko pouted as she fidgeted with the hem of her new black long-sleeved shirt that proudly wore a red Uzumaki swirl in the middle. Over that Naruko sported an orange sleeveless hoodie. She complemented the top half of her outfit by wearing tight, black ANBU pants and a black belt with orange studs and black shinobi sandals.

"At least not on the first day. Want to make a good impression, don't you?" Naruko looked up at Jiraiya, who was grinning down at her. She sighed and grinned back. "You scared me there, Jiraiya. Wish me luck?" Jiraiya ruffled her hair and Naruko glared back up at him, trying to fix her ponytail. "Luck, brat."

Naruko turned to the door and heard her name being called.

"Naruko Uzumaki? Naruko Uz−"

At that moment, the hyper blonde channeled Tsunade and kicked the door in, making it hit the wall with fervor, her open hoodie flowing slightly from the sudden gust of wind.

Many thoughts floated through the heads of students and sensei. While all the girls in the room had similar thoughts of who she thought she was to gain the attention of all the boys, they were thoughts of the exact opposite. Some thoughts that stood out consisted of two clan heirs and an avenger.

'_That's her! The girl that winked at me! Naruko, huh? Now I finally have a name for the face that plagued my thoughts for the past week and a half. She's mine,'_ thought Sasuke.

'_Wow, she's hot! I wish Shino wasn't sitting next to me… Maybe we'll be on the same team and I'll get her to be my girlfriend!' _thought the Inuzuka clan heir.

Even the sleeping student in the front row with his black hair spiked into a ponytail managed to wake from his sleep. His eyes widened at the sight of the blonde force, yawned, and then put his head back down. _'I believe this class just got less troublesome…'_

Unknowingly, the next thoughts of the three boys spoke in unison. _'I'll fight for her.'_


	3. Chapter 2

**YES! FINALLY! I FINISHED! **

**I already know that my chapters are short. I hate that they are. I wrote the first chapter in my notebook and it came up to thirteen pages. Wrote it on Microsoft Word… Nine pages. -_- My chapters will probably always been kinda short anyways. I don't like to draw things out in one chapter. Some might be longer than others because I want **

**Anyways… I just wanna say not to expect new chapters to be updated quickly. For my muse to write comes and goes. **

**So… Just a few things. First, I created a lot of my own jutsu with because of this story. So don't freak if you read one that you've never recognized. Second, I'm introducing a "new" character in my story. The reason I use the term 'new' loosely is because they are actually an internal counter-part to a canon character. Just like Inner Sakura. And last, I'm going to be changing how their clothes look, mainly because I'm sick at looking at the originals. That's probably not really significant but... what the hell.**

**And because I forgot to put a disclaimer on my last chapter, I'll let Ero-sennin do it!**

**(Jiraiya walks in and glares at me) First the brat and now you! Stop calling me that, gaki! **

**(Jiraiya turns to you and grins) Kieran does not nor will she _ever_ own Naruko. On with the show! **

"Naruko" − Normal

"_Naruko"_ − Thoughts

"**Naruko"** − Demon/Weirdos With Split Personalities

"_**Naruko"**_ − Demon Thoughts/Weirdos With Split Personalities Who Think

**(I will sometimes have a recommended playlist for the chapter or certain part in chapter. You will know when to play it and when to stop it when you see this: *. If there's more than one song, the amount of asterisks will grow.)**

**Chapter Playlist:**

* * *

"I believe the only available seat is next to Sasuke Uchiha," said the teacher, whose name Naruko learned was Iruka. Iruka pointed to the obsidian eyed boy with black chin-length hair that had a bluish tint to it, almost making it look like he had highlights. His hair is spiky in the back with bangs that covered his forehead easily.

He was wearing the traditional Uchiha clothing: a black, short-sleeved shirt with a high collar and a large Uchiha crest on the back, black arm and leg warmers and black shinobi sandals.

"Sasuke, could you raise your hand, please?"

The Uchiha tried his hardest not to look eager.

He heard a boy growl behind the desk behind him. Sasuke turned to see a feral looking boy. Kiba Inuzuka. He had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, pronounced canine teeth, and sharp nails that looked like claws. He also had the distinct red fang markings of the Inuzuka clan on his cheeks.

Kiba's attire consisted of dark greyish pants reaching to his calves and a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, with the hood placed on his head and blue sandals.

Sasuke smirked at him as Naruko walked to her new assigned seat. Sasuke saw Kiba's eyes broaden and he wondered what the untamed boy was looking at. The confused Uchiha twisted back around and saw Naruko sitting next to him and smiling.

He gulped silently and tried to think of something to say when a familiar, and in Sasuke's opinion, annoying voice inside his head. _"Deep, calming breaths, Sasuke! Uchiha's do _not_ panic. They remain cool and collected. We're not one of the drooling idiots in here. We're the best of the best. Now say hello to her, you ass!' __**'**_**And here's hoping you don't screw it up…'**" Sasuke internally rolled his eyes at the voice.

The raven haired Academy student took a deep breath and smirked confidently. "I'm Sasuke, but you already knew that." The irritating voice came back snorted at his attempt at a pick up line. **'That's the best you could come up with?'**

Naruko snorted inwardly at his attempt to flirt with her.

"**He's pretty cute… He definitely needs some serious social skills though… but cute none the less."**

Naruko agreed with her sealed prisoner thoughtfully and replied sarcastically to Sasuke, "I'm Naruko, but you already knew that." The blonde giggled at Sasuke's face and finished her greeting. "It's nice to meet you, Sasuke."

The raven gave her a small smile in return and faced the front of the room, trying not to blush.

Not being able to focus on the class lesson, Naruko scoped the room.

* * *

On the left half of the classroom, two girls were glaring at the blonde haired student. One girl, sitting at the third to last desk next to a chubby student eating candy, was Ino Yamanaka. Ino is a fair-skinned girl of average height with blue eyes.

The thing Naruko noticed the most about her most noticeable trait in her appearance was her long blonde hair, which was in a high-ponytail with bangs covering the right side of her face.

In terms of attire, Ino was wearing a pair of small silver hoop-earrings and purple, fairly revealing clothing. She wore a short purple vest like blouse with a raised collar, a skirt that was cut off on the sides and bandage on her stomach and legs. She also wore purple and white elbow warmers with this.

As to why she was glaring at Naruko, well, Ino was convinced that Sasuke Uchiha is her soul mate. _'I don't know who this bitch thinks she is sitting next to Sasuke-kun. He's mine.'_

At the same time, a girl sitting at the desk directly across from Naruko and Sasuke was seething. The girl had bright pink hair, large green eyes, and fair skin. Sakura wore her bangs over her forehead in an attempt to cover it.

Sakura was wearing a red qipao dress with white circular designs without sleeves, with a zipper and tight dark green shorts. The pink-haired (which some students suspected was a dye until they saw her mother) academy student was Sakura Haruno. And she didn't even try to hide her jealousy.

"**Great, now we have another blonde slut after our Sasuke-kun! We'll show her who he belongs to, cha!" **Inner Sakura shouted.

* * *

Naruko's mind started to wander as she looked out the window. She knew everything Iruka was talking about and more. The blonde teenager briefly wondered what kind of team she would be placed on…

* * *

Outside of her mindscape, Naruko's name was called to name a wind natured jutsu. Naruko sighed as responded with the first one that came to her mind.

"The Rasengan; created by the Fourth Hokage," Naruko paused to stop herself from saying that he was her father, but recovered so quickly, it was almost unnoticed and finished her answer, "used by himself, Jiraiya of the Sannin , my Kyoufu (godfather), Kakashi Hatake (although successful half the time) and myself."

To say it was totally silent, Naruko bet that she could hear a pen drop in the Hokage Tower, on the top floor. Naruko looked around the soundless classroom to see everyone staring at her. Even the boy sitting next to Ino, by the name of Chōji Akimichi had stopped eating.

Naruko's eyes shifted to Sakura, who in return, looked at her rather skeptically. It looked like she was waiting for Naruko to say "Gotcha!" and laugh.

The teenage girl in question rolled her eyes and turned her head in Sasuke's direction. He had this look of awe, jealousy and… what was that?

"**Ooh, I think he likes you…," **thought her prisoner. **"While I don't like the fact that he's apart of that appalling clan, he could be good for you**. **Hopefully, he's different."**

Naruko rolled her eyes to the ceiling and frowned. "What is so shocking? The fact that Jiraiya is my kyoufu or the fact that I can use a powerful jutsu only a select few could use?" She asked, mostly to herself than anything else.

Naruko started to grow irritated when she received no answer and looked past Sasuke's head to look out the window, wanting to go out into the forest to join the animals in their freedom. She developed a close companionship with the animals of Konoha as a child.

Soon, the blonde's boredom took over and she put her head down to sleep.

Iruka finally shook out of shocked stupor and reclaimed his class' attention, going on with the lesson.

* * *

Sasuke could barely focus on said lesson because he was too busy trying to figure out a confusing matter of his own. Switching his eyes back and forth between Iruka and his new classmate, he couldn't help but think, _"Why does she look so familiar to me?"_

The raven-haired boy continued to ask himself this question. Soon enough, he was having a battle of wits in his head between himself and a counterpart to his brooding personality who Sasuke deemed, Sasu.

The reason behind the name was because of his brother calling him that on a daily basis. When the Uchiha asked who he was, the imaginary boy practically demanded that he should be named Sasu. So Sasuke obliged.

Sasu was much like his outer counterpart, except while he was sarcastic and snarky like Sasuke, he was much happier. And in Sasu's case, smarter. He thought with a more level headed mind. Sasu had been stuck inside of Sasuke's ever since the _Incident_.

He too, was angry, but unlike Sasuke, he knew his own _brother_ wouldn't kill his entire family for strength. Even since that day, more and more happy thoughts were pushed to the back of the heir's mind, creating Sasu.

The cheerful clone right now, was trying to make Sasuke see memories from when he was a child to answer his question.

"_She just looks so familiar… Where have I seen her?"_

Sasu rolled his eyes at the idiotic question and sighed. _**'Why does he always have to be so fucking clueless? Some Rookie of the Year. Kami-sama, if you can hear me, please grant me the power to cure him of his stupidity.'**_

It was then Sasuke felt as if someone had slapped the back of his head. The Uchiha jumped and turned around to the student behind him, Kiba.

Said student picked up his head, feeling someone's eyes on him. Kiba looked down to the seat below him, his eyes locked with Sasuke's. "What are you staring at, _Uchiha_?" Kiba asked, hissing out his last name.

"Finally realized you're a bender? I don't know if you've noticed, but I happen to like girls."

The Inuzuka heir's voice changed slightly as he looked at the back of Naruko's head. "Especially the angel you got lucky enough to sit next to, by the grace of Kami herself. Now turn the fuck around," finished Kiba, putting his head back down, making the rest of his sentence muffled.

Sasuke gave him a glare that a gargoyle would be afraid of. But in his head, he briefly wondered why he looked so familiar also. Before Sasuke thought about it any further, his irritation won. "You should be so lucky that she even _speaks_ to you, you filthy−"

That was all Sasuke could get out before Iruka called for lunch. The students raced out of the classroom, no doubt going to blab to their friends in other classes about what they heard.

Sasuke glared at Kiba as the boy jumped up, running out the room with his dog, Akamaru, in tow. He finally turned around to see Naruko still here with her head down, sleeping.

"Sasuke, Naruko. Lunch."

The boy looked up to the front of the room to the voice, Iruka. Sasuke nodded and brought his gaze back down on Naruko. He shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake the girl. When she didn't, Sasuke did so again only harder, making her grumble and pick up her head.

"Wha happen?" Naruko asked sleepily. Sasuke smirked at how cute her voice sounded. '_Cute?'_

"It's time for lunch," the raven answered. He watched as a faint blush covered her cheeks. _'Wow, she's really cute… No, no! What good would it do to have a crush on her? I need to get over it now or it'll never go away. Itachi will just swoop in and take another precious person from me…'_

Sasuke was shook out of his inner musings by Naruko's question. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if I could sit with you. If that's alright…" Naruko answered, albeit shyly.

Sasuke stood from his chair and walked away from the desk, stopping short when he hears a rejected whine coming from behind him. He turned around and smirked at Naruko, asking her whether she was coming. Naruko jumped from her seat and followed the quiet boy.

* * *

The heir led Naruko to a lone table that was positioned right outside the edge of the west end of the forest. And much to Sasuke's dismay, where a ton of girls were waiting for his arrival. He rolled his eyes, slightly worried that Naruko would think badly of him.

The girl plaguing his thoughts stopped finishing her path to the table and grabbed Sasuke's wrist to do the same. Naruko noticed a faint blush cover Sasuke's cheeks and briefly thought that it looked out of place on his beautifully pale face. She dropped his arm and tried to rid her head of such thoughts.

"Uh, Sasuke? What's the deal with all those girls glaring at me like I should be six feet under?" the blond asked.

"Um... they um… they all like me, are freaking delusional and follow me wherever I go!" Sasuke rushed out.

Much to his surprise, Naruko instantly burst out laughing. "Wha… _gasp…_ They all… _gasp…_ l-like you! You… _gasp…_ have… _gasp…_ a fan… _gasp…_ club!" she breathed out around her laughter. Sasuke scowled at her and bumped her with his shoulder. "It's not funny! You try being stalked every single day by crazy people!"

Naruko stifled her laughter and tried to apologize. "S-sorry…"

"Hn." That was all her new friend gave her in response.

"We'll just have to sit at another table, then. No matter." Naruko grabbed Sasuke's wrist once more and dragged him over to a table that was on the edge of the east end of the forest, where three boys were sitting.

"N-naruko, I don't exactly −" The struggling boy instantly shut up at the glare Naruko gave him.

"Would you rather sit with them or with the rabid fangirls?"

It took no time for Sasuke as he answered with a quick, "No fangirls! They scare me…"

Naruko snorted at his frightened statement and pulled him to the table. The two out of three the boys sitting there, stared in astonishment at who decided to join them. The last however, was indeed sleeping.

All Naruko could see was that he had his black hair done up into a short, spiky ponytail and was that he was wearing a green lined mesh shirt with a short-sleeved grey jacket that was green on the edges.

"Oi! Shikamaru! Wake up!" yelled a tan boy with white dog on top of his head. He jabbed him in the side with his elbow in attempt to wake the boy newly named Shikamaru.

Shikamaru grunted at him and slowly lifted his head from the wooden table to glare at tanned boy. "What is it, Kiba?'

"Look who's sitting at our table! Say hello!" exclaimed the boy, Kiba, who was pointing directly at Naruko.

Half asleep, Shikamaru looked at Naruko and inclined his head towards her. "Shikamaru Nara. Nice to meet you." He didn't notice that he had done it, but the shadow user winked at her before putting his head back down. Sasuke glared at the Nara heir and grunted in pain from Naruko thrust her elbow in his ribs.

Kiba looked at Naruko and grinned suggestively. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka. Next in line to be clan head after my older sister steps down."

He wrapped an arm around the portly boy next to him that wore what looked like pair of underwear on his head with tufts of brown hair sticking out on either side. A white shirt with the kanji for "food" on it, over which was a short-sleeved green jacket and a white scarf around his neck.

"This here is Choji Akimichi. Next in line to be clan head," Kiba finished. Choji grinned at both Naruko and Sasuke, accidently showing what looked like to be cheese puff residue on his teeth and went straight back to eating. Sasuke stared at Choji what looked to be disgusted awe. _'How could anyone eat so much? And no manners what so ever!' _

"I'm Naruko Uzumaki! I'm gonna be the best ninja ever," she cried out. She poked Sasuke on the cheek and grinned. "You all must already know each other, so there's no point introducing Sasuke here."

The group excluding Shikamaru, who was still asleep and Sasuke, who simply didn't want to talk to who he aptly, in his case, named the clan rejects. Kiba and Shikamaru were both tied for dead-last because all they did was sleep. And Choji because all he did was eat. He understood the concepts on the Akimichi clan for their bodies saving the calories they eat for chakra. But all the time? It was disgusting to him how someone would want to do that. They may be the physically strongest clan, but that's all they had.

Sasuke sighed silently to himself out of boredom and hunger. He bent over and picked up the brown bag that had his lunch inside. The raven sat back up, pulling a bento box out of the bag. As he pulled his chopsticks apart, he noticed that they made too much noise, seeing as he was surrounded by four other people…

He looked around to see, that no one was sitting at the wooden table no longer. Had everyone left? Sasuke looked over his shoulder and saw groups of kids sitting at other tables. Why did they leave him here?

Maybe they left because they noticed that he didn't want to be there. He sighed and lifted the lid to his bento box, slightly licking his lips at the lunch he had made last night. Sasuke began to eat, giving himself a small smile as he at peacefully for the first time since he started the Academy.

It was all thanks to Naruko really. If she hadn't dragged him away from his favorite table, he'd be surrounded by the annoying cloud of girls that followed him everywhere. More specifically, that weakling Sakura Haruno, the Yamanaka heir, Ino and their incessant bickering.

Sasuke hated how they just flocked to him and invaded his personal space. It was like they didn't know he was ignoring them!

The raven haired boy continued to eat peacefully when he was suddenly yanked back into the trees.

* * *

Sasuke groaned around some type of cloth that was tied over his mouth. He struggled to sit up, squirming on the forest floor trying to untie what felt like rope from around his hands.

He blinked a few times to find out that someone had tied a blindfold over his eyes as well. _'What the hell is going on? D-did Itachi come back for me or something?'_

Sasuke proceeded to sit up when a sudden weight appeared on his chest. He swore he could hear stifled laughter as he struggled to get up. It felt like the immense weight was going to crush him when it was suddenly lifted. Sasuke sighed in relief when the offensive burden disappeared and took in large gulps of air.

"Hehe, nice one Choji." Choji? Was that Naruko? Sasuke felt someone untie the encumbrance that was the rope around his hands.

He shot up from the ground so fast that he ended up hitting his head on a low tree branch, knocking Sasuke back on the ground.

At this point, he could count at least four voices laughing at his expense. The teenager turned to the noise and scowled at the laughter, only to spur it on and make it grow louder.

"Kiba, take the blindfold and scarf off of him." It is Naruko! What the hell is she doing with these idiots?

"Aw, do I have to?" asked the boy. Sasuke heard a girlish giggle and what must have been a silent conformation to his question for he could finally see again. He always hated that he could never see his surroundings. Some odd trait from being an Uchiha, he guessed.

Sasuke jumped up to his feet and glared at the group in front of him. Naruko, Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru.

"What the fuck was all that about?" he yelled. Shikamaru smirked while Kiba had to brace himself against a tree since he was laughing so hard.

Naruko giggled. "We just wanted to get back at you for ignoring us. And we were bored." She batted her eyelashes at Sasuke and gave him a puppy dog pout. "I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun…" The Uchiha gulped as a deep blush covered his cheeks. _'She really is pretty… NO! I-I can't… Wow, her eyes are beautiful…'_ Sasuke accidentally zoned out thanks to his musing, ignoring the faint calls for his attention.

His thoughts shattered as he was slapped across the face. "OI! Sasuke-teme!" shouted Naruko. Sasuke glared at the offending hand that was still raised. "Why the fuck did you do that?"

Naruko rolled her eyes at his question and muttered, "Baka."

The raven grunted, ignoring the remark and left the woods with his four captors following him while laughing.

The boy at the brunt of their amusement stopped short, causing Naruko to crash into him and Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji close behind. "Sasuke, what's wrong?" asked Choji.

"F-f-fangirls…" he whispered.

"Uh-oh, it looks like they're out for blood… C'mon Shika, Choji! Later you two!" yelled Kiba. Before Naruko or Sasuke could catch them, they were already gone.

As the two looked back at the offending group, both Ino and Sakura were close enough to make Sasuke feel like he was suffocating. "Sasuke-_kun_, what are you doing with _her_?" Ino asked distained.

The Uchiha glared at her and Naruko smirked from behind him when Ino flinched back. "She asked to eat lunch with me and I agreed. Unlike you all."

Sakura on the other hand, disregarded Sasuke's jab at them and held even tighter on his arm. "Oh, Sasuke-kun, you're so sweet to humor her!" she exclaimed. Sasuke swore he could see hearts in her eyes. He shuddered slightly, but of course no one noticed except Naruko.

Naruko laughed softly from behind him as the flock of girls surrounded him, as if to protect him from her. She snorted at their ignorance and the shouts of how much they love him and snuck around the group to go back inside.

Although the laugh was practically silent, it was loud enough to Sasuke that it felt like she was right next to him. He watched as Naruko re-entered the building from the crowd of girls. A deep frown etched onto Sasuke's face and shook the tight grips on his arms free. He walked slowly back to the classroom, trying to tune out the voice of teenage girls clamoring behind him.

He knew something like this would happen.

Naruko probably thought him nothing short of some pervert who used girls. Sasuke thought it was quite strange to feel guilty like this. And only after just half a day over a girl he knew, but it faintly felt like something pulled him to her and it was as if he'd known her for years.

Back inside the classroom, a student sitting in the front row alone and one sitting next to Shino Aburame felt the same as the Uchiha.

Kiba and Shikamaru did not know what to do with this new development.


	4. Chapter 3

**So…. Hey there, America and other various residents of the planet. I realize that it's basically been half a year since I last updated and mainly it's because of bad writer's block. Luckily, over that time I have wrote other stories, so it wasn't a total bust. Now, put down your pitch forks and read this new chapter.**

The rest of the month passed by and the ragtag group of Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru, Naruko and Sasuke grew close quite quickly, surprising everyone. Sasuke even more, as he never allowed himself to get close to anyone. After the day Kiba and Shikamaru call 'The Day Hell Froze Over,' Sasuke being sociable was not the only surprising thing.

Kiba, for instance, worked more on his temper by meditating with Naruko and Sasuke and studied up on jutsu he could do that didn't involve Akamaru in case his canine friend was out of action.

Shikamaru stayed awake in class more often, which was a feat in itself.

With Sasuke's advice and sensitivity, Choji managed to abandon the useless calories and carbohydrates in junk food and now sticks with much healthier food, eating sweets only in moderation.

He was still trying to figure out what draws him to Naruko.

What's more strange, Sasuke now finds himself growing to Kiba as well. He never liked the Inuzuka before, so why now, after Naruko shows up? Why now, after taijutsu matches of Kiba getting angry for being beaten and Sasuke smirking over him? Slowly but surely in just one week, Sasuke realized he didn't really care.

In fact, he considers the two to be his best friends.

Sasuke and Kiba would butt heads, making Naruko would break it up. Or Naruko and Kiba would argue and Sasuke would separate them. Then they would joke with one another a half hour later.

The Uchiha quickly took his shower and got dressed for bed. As anyone could notice, he was excited for the next day because on Friday, it was finally time to assign teams.

Not that he would tell anyone he was excited.

_Friday_

"Alright, everyone, quiet down," said Iruka.

Ino and Sakura are standing on the stairs arguing about who would be on the same team as Sasuke. They were loud enough to drown out the rest of the class with their 'Sasuke is Kami' talk.

"You guys, listen up!"

Then Naruko and Kiba started their own fight about who had the best taijutsu form.

Iruka clenched his jaw and bellowed with his famous **Big-Headed Jutsu**. "ENOUGH."

Not only did the class stop talking, they stopped moving, breathing and even thinking.

"Thank you. Now it's finally time to assign teams," he started. The whole class let out a roaring cheer, with Kiba throwing in a loud "Finally!"

"Okay, okay. Now the teams are ordered in formation of the student with the highest score of that group, the student with the average score and the student with the lowest. But before we get to that, I have the results of the Top Kunoichi and the Rookie of the Year…," Iruka sorted through the envelopes he put on his desk. He pulled out a single sheet from a brown envelope, his eyes widening in surprise. "For Top Kunoichi: Naruko Uzumaki with Sakura Haruno as the runner up. And for Rookie of the Year: …Shikamaru Nara with Sasuke Uchiha as his runner up."

There was a total uproar. The boys and some of the girls were cheering for Naruko; the girls knew that she was really smart and didn't really like Sakura, while the boys just cheered for Naruko because they thought she was hot.

Sakura stayed in her seat, steaming without a word. When some of the students took a glance at her, they were shocked to see that she wasn't shouting. Up in the top right corner of the room, Naruko was grinning while leaning back against the wall in her seat.

When Iruka announced Shikamaru as Rookie of the Year, the cheering died down. Shikamaru Nara, the laziest boy ever? Not Sasuke? At this, Sakura jumped up and reminded everyone what she was known for.

"WHAT?! HOW?! He never does anything! Sasuke deserved to be Rookie of the Year, he's the best!" She didn't seem to register that she was just the runner up. In Sakura's reality, she just assumed that Iruka made a mistake.

Everyone covered their ears, struggling to block out the screeching that came from the twelve year old girl. _'How can someone so small make so much noise?'_ They all thought.

Iruka cleared his throat into his hand, attempting to get everyone back on track. "Sakura, sit down and be quiet. If you would have allowed me to finish, you would know that Shikamaru has really picked up all his slack. He turned in all his missing work and completed his unfinished papers, catching up with us quite quickly. Unsurprisingly, he's the smartest boy in the school, obviously his father's son. Sasuke would have won if Shikamaru had stayed unmotivated as he was month ago. Now, Team One will consist of…"

Slowly, the kid-filled classroom dwindled down to a group of nine.

"Team Seven will be Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, −"

"YES! True love prevails all!" shouted Sakura. The remaining nine students rolled their eyes, sighing exasperatedly. Sasuke dropped his head to his desk, mumbling about the unfairness of the universe.

Iruka cleared his throat, ignoring Sakura's unsurprising outburst. "− and Naruko Uzumaki. Your sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

Sasuke offered his fist under the desk and Naruko bumped it with her own, grinning as she kept her eyes on the front of the room. Kiba glowered at the back of Sasuke's head and growled softly to himself.

"Team Eight is already in circulation, so Team Nine is Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame; your sensei is Kurenai Yuhi and finally with keeping tradition, Team Ten will be Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Choji Akimichi and your sensei will be Asuma Saratobi," Iruka finished.

Kiba sighed as he petted the bundle of fur − Akamaru − on top of his head. He jumped up out of his seat, dug into his pocket and flicked one of Akamaru's treats at the back of Sasuke's head. The Uchiha's hand shot into the air, catching the dog treat and returned it. Kiba ducked slightly, letting Akamaru catch it in his mouth. The small dog yipped happily as he snuggled into Kiba's hood.

Shino, a boy with slightly shaggy black hair that wore a tan coat with its collar covering his mouth and blue shinobi shorts, pushed up his sunglasses slightly. "Shall we go then?" He was standing with their other teammate Hinata at the door. Like Kiba and Shino, she was also wearing a coat; a light indigo shade. Again, like the both of them, she had her indigo hair cut short so it wouldn't get in the way. Hinata kept her trademark milky lavender eyes to the floor. Naruko briefly wondered why the two were the only ones who never really talked with the other kids. She had seen them sit with each other, but never talked. Kiba nodded solemnly and followed the bug user out the door.

A yawn resounded from the front of the classroom.

"'Bout time you woke up, Shika," Choji said from behind his mouthful of strawberries. The pineapple-haired boy grunted and stood from his chair, put his hands behind his head and walked out the door. Choji snorted at Shikamaru's lack of concern and followed. Staring after her new teammate's attitudes, Ino got up to tag along, but not before fixing a glare on Sakura.

_One hour later…_

"Where is he?!" Sakura huffed. "He can't be a very successful jonin if he's a whole hour late, right Sasuke?" She turned to Sasuke, who was standing against the wall opposite the classroom door with Naruko. She gnashed her teeth together from how close they're standing. How dare she steal Sasuke away from her?

"This is unbelievable. How are we going to get anything done if our sensei can't be on time?" Naruko thought out loud, pretending that she didn't really know Kakashi that well. Sasuke snickered softly at her bad acting.

Sakura was so jealous that Sasuke wasn't paying attention to her; she decided to show off her "ninja" skills. She swiftly walked to the janitor's closet down the hall, snatched a bucket from the confining room and filled it with water. She ran back to the classroom and pulled a chair under the door. Sakura tiptoed on top of the chair and pushed the bucket on top. Satisfied, she jumped down to look at her work.

"…Um, Sakura? I don't think Kakashi's gonna fall for that," Naruko stage whispered from behind her ear.

Sakura jumped. _'When did she get behind me?'_ She shook off her surprise. "Back off. How would you know? Besides, this is what he gets for being late."

"She's right, Sakura," Sasuke finally spoke. "A jonin like Kakashi would never fall for something as childish as this."

But to no avail, the bubblegum haired genin paid no attention to Sasuke − **Sounds odd, doesn't it? **− reprimanding her. In fact, all she could think about was that her name fell from his lips.

"**This is the second smartest girl in the school?"**Sasu asked. **"Don't waste your time with this one."** Sasuke shook his head as he watched Sakura fix the door so the bucket falls in the right direction.

'_Proving I can fool a jonin will definitely make Sasuke-kun like me.'_

"Sakura, it's not gonna work. Kakashi's a genius," Naruko tried to reason with her. What she didn't realize, was how admirable she sounded.

Sasuke clenched his jaw slightly at her tone. _'Brother figure or not…'_

"You should listen to her."

The pink and black-haired genin stilled.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're late!" Naruko scolded. She almost said 'again', but quickly caught herself.

"Gomen… A black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around," said Kakashi, rubbing the back of his head. With that said, the white-haired scarecrow looked around the classroom before settling his lone eye down on the three genin he was assigned to. _'Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and my little sister…'_ Kakashi could feel the excitement pouring off of Naruko; from Sasuke, he felt pride, excitement and… jealousy? …Nothing but nervousness rolling off of Sakura.

"My first impression of you three? …Pathetic. Meet me on the roof."

The genin blinked at his bluntness. The next second, nothing was left but three leaves falling to the floor.

"Pathetic, huh? C'mon, Sasuke. Let's go show him how _pathetic_ we are," Naruko growled, grabbing her friend's hand.

Sasuke followed, blushing subconsciously. He quickly shook it off, of course. He didn't want anyone to know that he liked her.

No one.

Sakura watched as her 'soul mate' trailed after Naruko. _'What is so special about her?'_

Up on the roof, the three genin met with their new sensei.

Assessing his team again, Kakashi sat on the metal railing surrounding the top of the building. He clapped his hands together and gave his famous one eyed smile to put everyone at ease. "Now, first order of business, how about you introduce yourselves?"

Wondering how, Sakura asked, "How about you give us an example, sensei?"

The jonin shrugged his shoulder, seeing no harm in the innocent question. "Alright… My name is Kakashi Hatake. My dream is… classified. My hobbies are… none of your business. What I like is… a secret. And my dislikes are… confidential."

Naruko and Sasuke snorted in unison while Sakura just looked clueless. _'All he told us was his name.'_

"So... Pinky, let's start with you."

Sakura's clueless look was quickly replaced with a happy one as she took his suggestion. "Okay! My name is Sakura Haruno… My dream is…" She looked over at Sasuke. The Uchiha felt her eyes on him and stepped farther away even though Naruko was the one between them. "My hobbies are…"

She looked at Sasuke again. "_Who_ I like is…"

She looked at Sasuke _again_, but this time she giggled.

"Your dislikes…?" Kakashi asked blandly.

Sakura's eyes flashed angrily as she ground out a "Naruko and Ino-pig!" from between her teeth.

The first-mentioned blonde let out another snort and crossed her arms. "Surprise, surprise," she muttered.

The gray haired jonin nodded silently then pointed to Sasuke. _'Rabid fangirl… I thought Sasuke and Naruko were just exaggerating…'_ "You're next."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My dream is… to kill a certain person and restore my clan. My hobbies are training and hanging out with my friends. I like reading, looking up family jutsu and my friends." — _'And Naruko.'_ Kakashi interposed from his thoughts. — "My dislikes are Naruko's unhealthy obsession with ramen,—"

"It's food created by Kami himself!" she interjected.

Sasuke just arched his left eyebrow and continued as if he didn't hear her. "—people who don't take their training seriously and _perverts._" He smirked slightly at Kakashi, who suddenly found a ladybug on the concrete ground captivating.

"Naruko, if you would finish us off…," the jonin mumbled behind his mask.

"Finally! My name is Naruko Uzumaki! My dream is to become Hokage! My hobbies are training and pranking. I like ramen, Hokage-jiji's stories, Sasuke-kun, Shika-kun, Kiba-kun, Choji-kun, Hokage-jiji, Jiraiya and bunch of other people. My dislikes are the three minutes it takes to make instant ramen, kunoichi who don't take themselves seriously and _super-perverts_."

A loud sneeze overcame the women's section of the hot springs.

"PERVERT!"

A few seconds later, a single girlish scream disrupted the birds resting peacefully in the trees.

The scream was so loud it returned to the group of four.

Kakashi sighed as he stood, turned around and prepared to jump off the railing to the smaller building under him. "Come to Training Ground Seven at 8:00. And don't eat breakfast; you'll just throw it back up."

Shuddering at his nonchalant attitude, the three genin got ready to depart as well. Sakura turned to talk to Sasuke, but before she could even get a word out, he was already gone, along with Naruko, taking the same route of escape as their new sensei.

"So what do you think he's going to have us do?" asked Sasuke as the two walked to the park to meet the rest of their friends.

"How would I know? I've tried to get it out of him but he won't spill," shrugged Naruko.

Sasuke grunted softly, effectively ending the conversation as the walked to the jungle gym. Naruko climbed up the jungle gym, flipped over the top bar and held herself up by the back of her knees.

"So I've been thinking—," Kiba started while he leaned against the metal structure.

"Did it hurt?" Sasuke quipped. He followed Naruko up the jungle gym but instead sat on top.

Shikamaru snorted softly.

Scowling, Kiba finished his thought, "Now that we're genin, I thought that maybe we should meet one day of the week training as a group; sparring and stuff like that."

Shikamaru nodded in approval. "That's not a bad idea. And it should be on Sunday; since that's typically the day ninja have the day off."

"So should it be just us? Or everyone?" Choji asked, eating the remaining potato chips from their bag.

"No…," Naruko answered. "I'll admit; it would be easier if it was just but everyone could use more training. It won't be mandatory either. They should come because they want to," she added.

Four-fifths of the group surmised that since Sasuke hadn't said anything the entire conversation, he had no objections. "So where is it going to be?" he finally asked.

"We could use the one training ground everyone is too afraid to use," Naruko grinned devilishly. Sasuke inched away from her discreetly as well and far as he could. "You don't mean Training Ground Forty-Four…?"

"The Forest of Death?! That place is dangerous! We could get killed!" Choji fretted. Naruko waved her hand, dismissing the warning. "I've been there plenty of times. It's not all it's cracked up to be." The boys blinked, unable to believe that anyone could stay in there long enough to breathe; let alone train.

"It's the perfect place; no one would ever imagine a group of green genin could handle the Forest of Death…," Shikamaru said. Naruko grinned, pulled herself up and jumped of the jungle gym.

"Then it's settled! Next Sunday, we start our training at Training Ground Forty-Four!"

"But how will we get it?" Kiba wondered. Naruko gave a foxy grin to which Kiba blushed. "No need to be concerned, Kiba. You and Choji just bring the food. Shika, Sasuke and I will worry about that."

'_How did I get roped into this?'_ Sasuke and Shikamaru sweatdropped.

The next morning, the bright sun woke Sasuke before his alarm clock could.

He shot of bed and to the bathroom. He just barely remembered that today was the test that would proved whether he could stay a genin.

After finishing his morning routine, Sasuke was just about to take his leave when he saw a black haired man in a black cloak sitting in one of the chairs in the dining room. Sasuke flattened himself against the wall that made half the entrance to the room. He peeked around the corner and narrowed his eyes. He stepped the closer to get a better look.

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he forced his nervous heart to slow.

It couldn't be him.

It can't be.

He wasn't ready to face him yet… Maybe that's why he was here… But wouldn't he want a challenge?

'_Please no,'_ Sasuke thought. _'Not here, not now…'_ Then he straightened out of his position.

Why was he acting like a scared little kid? He wasn't seven anymore.

Sasuke steeled himself and reached for his pack of shuriken on his left leg. He took careful arm at the figure's back; the top of the spine, specifically. But as the shuriken soared through the air, the figure swiftly and unfortunately moved out of the way, the ninja star implanting itself in the wall.

Sasuke felt the chakra around him shift.

'_Genjutsu…'_

And then it was gone.

Sasuke punched wall behind him then looked at the one in the dining room where the shuriken stuck. One the opposite blade, a piece of paper was attached.

He snatched the paper off and read:

_Congratulations, little brother._

**I'm sorry if the chapter seems a little rushed…. or maybe that's just me. Anyway, I hoped you liked it and I'm writing chapter four right now, so no panicking.**

– **K.**


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